


Shatter Me

by Tormented_Gale



Category: Tales of the Abyss
Genre: Self-Reflection, Shatter Me by Lindsey Stirling feat. Lzzy Hale, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-14
Updated: 2015-03-14
Packaged: 2018-03-17 08:47:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3522974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tormented_Gale/pseuds/Tormented_Gale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by the song 'Shatter Me' by Lindsey Stirling feat. Lzzy Hale. Prompted on Tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shatter Me

He’s alone, as he usually is, and he closes his eyes and lets the water rush through his hair and clean the dirt from it. There’s blood under his fingernails-his or someone else’s? does it matter?-and he picks under each nail, one by one, bit by bit, until he’s scraping at skin and not at filth. His hands are forever stained anyway; what does a little more matter?

The water rushes over his body, his scars, the tale of his life imprinted in flesh and bone and memory more physical than mental. His fingers retrace the journey so easily, each bit by bit coming back to him, and he almost smiles and almost grimaces, the difference long forgotten. When he can’t take any more of himself, any more of the emotions locked so deeply away, he braces his forearms on the wall and tries to drown it all out in the sound of falling water.

And under his breath, he begins to sing, and the song echoes in his head, a memory of itself:

_Somebody shine a light_  
I’m frozen by the fear in me  
Somebody make me feel alive  
And shatter me 

His foot begins to tap. His lips open just that much wider, and the water hits him in the face, but he continues as if he is alone, naked, standing in the pure darkness that is just moments from enveloping him. It is a cold embrace, far from comforting, but he knows nothing else.

_So cut me from the line_  
Dizzy, spinning endlessly  
Somebody make me feel alive  
And shatter me! 

He slams his hand into the wall, feels the pain ricochet back up and through him, the protest of flesh and weakness of strength. His hand presses to his stomach, illness warring within him, a sickness that has no physical attribute.

_If I break the glass, then I’ll have to fly_  
There’s no one to catch me if I take a dive  
I’m scared of change, and the days stay the same  
The world is spinning but only in gray 

He repeats the lyrics, his voice growing louder, his nails digging deeper into his palms, and his forehead presses to the cooler wall as steam rises around him. He drags his hand up his own skin until it is clenched against his chest and there, at last, there is just enough ease to squeeze out the last words…

_Shatter me…_

When the door opens to let in the next soldier, Sync is already finished, wrapping himself up and layering his masks over himself to block them out, but his final lyrics flitter around like trapped birds in the room, fading out with the steam as he takes his leave.


End file.
